Challenges at Irwindale For Barkshire, Finishes 13th.

Jeff and the 46 Centennial Battery Dodge team returned to Toyota Speedway in Irwindale, California on January 30th for the K&N Pro Series Toyota All Star Showdown.  They finished 2nd there back on July 4th, and were anxious to go for a win this time.

All began pretty well, starting third row outside after qualifying 6th out of the 45 car field.  Though the car was, in Jeff’s words, “too tight in the center of the corner all night,” they managed to run between 4th and 7th for the first 180 laps.  “At that point,” Jeff said, “we were really looking forward to the 200 lap break, certain we could improve the car for the final 25 laps.”  Instead, he was spun by the 98 car, recovering with a car not seriously damaged but ending up back in 25th position.  By the break he’d worked his way back up to 18th.

Fenders fixed and changes made during the break, the ‘46’ did return to the track handling better.  Unfortunately though, as they were making their way forward through the field, Jeff made a move to the bottom of the track where the 00 car came down on him, apparently not knowing he was there, resulting in a crash that gathered up four or five other cars.  After a trip to the pits for repairs, he returned to the track in 21st position.    With only 10 laps to go at that point, he continued to battle hard, making his way up through the field to a finishing position of 13th.  “It was really frustrating to be running well and feel certain that with another few laps we’d have made it back into at least the top 10,” Jeff said,” but that’s racing.  As always, I owe a huge thanks to the all volunteer ‘46’ team for their great effort, and for a car that, minus the bad luck, could have had a top 5 finish.”

Their plans for the K&N Series 2010 season?  They’ll run as many events as funding will allow.  “We’re continuing to foster our relationship with our main sponsor, Battery Systems,” Jeff said, “and hope to put together a more complete season this year.”

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